Passages

Former French President François Mitterrand died in Paris on Jan. 8 of prostate cancer. He was 79. During his 14-year tenure as president, Mitterrand, a Socialist, was credited with being an architect of European unity. His life was not without scandal: after escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in 1941, Mitterrand collaborated with the Vichy government. He later joined the French Resistance in 1943. And in 1994 it was revealed that the long-married Mitterrand had a daughter, Mazarine Pingeot, now 21, out of wedlock.

Sylvester Stallone, 49, and his fiancee, Jennifer Flavin, 27, are expecting their first child later this year. This will be the third for Stallone, who has two sons from his first marriage. No wedding date has been set....

Singer Wynonna Judd, 31, and Nashville businessman Arch Kelley III, 43, are expecting a second child in July. The couple, who already have Elijah, 1, plan to wed later this year.

After 33 years as a head coach in the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins' Don Shula, 66, announced his retirement on Jan. 5. Shula departs with more career wins (347) than any other coach and two championships in six Super Bowls....

NBC announced on Jan. 4 that Today co-anchor Bryant Gumbel, 47, will leave the top-rated morning show next year. Gumbel brought his cerebral pugnacity to wakeup TV on Jan. 4, 1982, and lasted longer than any other host in Today's 44-year history.

AIDS activist Jeff Getty, 38, was released from San Francisco General Hospital on Jan. 4, three weeks after receiving an experimental baboon bone-marrow transplant (PEOPLE, Jan. 8). If they perform as hoped, the AIDS-resistant baboon cells will inhibit the progress of the HIV virus.

Today's Katie Couric, 39, gave birth to a baby girl, Caroline (7 lbs., 10 ozs.) at a New York City hospital on Jan. 5. Couric and her husband, lawyer Jay Monahan, 40, have Ellie, 4.

A federal appeals court ruled on Jan. 9 that Paula Jones, 28, can proceed with her 1994 civil case against President Clinton for alleged sexual harassment. Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, alleges that the then-governor sexually harassed her during an encounter at a Little Rock hotel suite in 1991. Clinton's attorney had argued that a President should not be questioned, because involvement in such civil suits could tie him up in endless litigation.... On Jan. 8 an L.A. superior court jury convicted Robert Dewey Hoskins, 38, of five counts of stalking, assault and making threats against pop star Madonna, 37. Dewey, who is homeless, will be sentenced Feb. 8.

Marlon Brando's son Christian Brando, 37, was released from a San Luis Obispo, Calif., prison on Jan. 10 after nearly five years behind bars for killing his sister's boyfriend, Dag Drollet. Brando, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, testified that he was angry with Drollet for allegedly beating Brando's pregnant half-sister Cheyenne, who later gave birth to Drollet's son Tuki. Since Cheyenne's suicide in 1995 at the age of 25, Tuki is being raised by Drollet's parents in Tahiti.